The Baby of Mâcon
Encyclopedia
The Baby of Mâcon is a 1993 film written and directed by Peter Greenaway
starring Ralph Fiennes
, Julia Ormond
and Philip Stone
.
.
The Church is both suspicious and jealous. The Bishop's Son (Fiennes), a believer in science and a sceptic
, doubts the Daughter. She attempts to convince him that she is indeed a virgin by offering her virginity to him. Before the Bishop's Son is able to consummate with the Daughter, the Baby commands a bull to kill him. The Bishop (Stone) arrives as his son has been gored, and blame for his son's death falls onto the Daughter.
The Bishop takes custody of the Baby and the Church begins exploiting him, and the town's faith, far more than the Daughter. In response, the Daughter quietly suffocates the Baby. The Bishop sentences her to death, but because she is still a virgin, she cannot be killed outright. The Daughter is instead sentenced to be raped 208 times, after which she is to be executed. But after the rapes she is found to be dead. The Church then dismembers the Baby's body and sells his remains as religious relics
to the townspeople. Famine falls once again onto the city of Mâcon.
(invented by the filmmaker). Between the play's acts, the film also explores the "audience" - in a provincial Italian theatre at the height of the Counter-Reformation
- and the "actors" backstage. Throughout, the viewer is reminded of the play's audience, and, at its conclusion, the on-stage actors bow to their (theatre) audience, who in turn bow to the modern (cinema) audience. However, all through this final denouement the corpses of the Bishop's Son and the Daughter remain motionless where they are displayed.
A member of the theatre audience, Prince Cosimo Medici, exists outside and inside the play, serving to blur the line between the narrative folds. The ten-minute rape sequence deliberately weaves through each cinematic narrative layer, further blurring the lines. In every narrative layer, exploitation and theatre recur, i.e. theatre's supporting power: in the play, ecclesiastical power; in the film, court power - each propels the narrative. The film can be read as an examination of contemporary narrative and its (violent?) Christian origins.
.
Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, CBE is a British film director. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular...
starring Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
, Julia Ormond
Julia Ormond
Julia Karin Ormond is an English actress who has appeared in film and television and on stage.-Early life and education:...
and Philip Stone
Philip Stone
Philip Stone was an English actor.He was born Philip Stones in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Stone appeared in three successive Stanley Kubrick films: playing the central character's "Dad" in A Clockwork Orange , "Graham" in Barry Lyndon and as "Delbert Grady," the original caretaker in The Shining...
.
Plot
A town cursed with barren women and famine is saved by a miracle birth to an old, ugly woman: the Mother. Immediately afterwards, the old woman's Daughter (Ormond) claims to have delivered the baby herself in a virgin birth. She imprisons the Mother and begins to exploit the Baby by selling blessings to the desperate townspeople of MâconMâcon
Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...
.
The Church is both suspicious and jealous. The Bishop's Son (Fiennes), a believer in science and a sceptic
Skepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
, doubts the Daughter. She attempts to convince him that she is indeed a virgin by offering her virginity to him. Before the Bishop's Son is able to consummate with the Daughter, the Baby commands a bull to kill him. The Bishop (Stone) arrives as his son has been gored, and blame for his son's death falls onto the Daughter.
The Bishop takes custody of the Baby and the Church begins exploiting him, and the town's faith, far more than the Daughter. In response, the Daughter quietly suffocates the Baby. The Bishop sentences her to death, but because she is still a virgin, she cannot be killed outright. The Daughter is instead sentenced to be raped 208 times, after which she is to be executed. But after the rapes she is found to be dead. The Church then dismembers the Baby's body and sells his remains as religious relics
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
to the townspeople. Famine falls once again onto the city of Mâcon.
Cast
- Julia OrmondJulia OrmondJulia Karin Ormond is an English actress who has appeared in film and television and on stage.-Early life and education:...
- The Daughter - Ralph FiennesRalph FiennesRalph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
- The Bishop's Son - Philip StonePhilip StonePhilip Stone was an English actor.He was born Philip Stones in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Stone appeared in three successive Stanley Kubrick films: playing the central character's "Dad" in A Clockwork Orange , "Graham" in Barry Lyndon and as "Delbert Grady," the original caretaker in The Shining...
- The Bishop - Jonathan Lacey - Cosimo Medici
- Don HendersonDon HendersonDon Henderson was an English actor whose film and TV work covered many years but is best remembered for his role as the fictional detective George Bulman...
- The Father Confessor - Celia GregoryCelia GregoryCelia Christine Gregory was a British stage, film and television actress, who became a faith healer later in life....
- Mother Superior - Jeff NuttallJeff NuttallJeff Nuttall was an English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, anarchist sympathiser and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of literary critic A. D. Nuttall.-Life and work:Jeff Nuttall was born in Clitheroe,...
- The Majordomo - Jessica Hynes - The First Midwife (as Jessica Stevenson)
- Kathryn HunterKathryn HunterKathryn Hunter is an award-winning English actress and theatre director.Hunter was born in New York to Greek parents but brought up in the UK...
- The Second Midwife - Gabrielle Reidy - The Third Midwife
- Frank EgertonFrank EgertonFrancis David Egerton is a British novelist , a tutor of creative writing at Oxford University and an Oxford University librarian. He reviewed fiction and non-fiction for newspapers including The Times and Financial Times from 1995–2008...
- The Prompter - Phelim McDermott - The First Tutor
- Tony VogelTony VogelTony Vogel is an actor. He played St Andrew in Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth , and the title role in the 1979 television adaptation of Dick BartonTrivia: Graduated from RADA in 1963.-Known For:...
- The Father - Tatiana Strauss - The First Nun
- Louisa Millwood-Haigh - The Second Nun
Interpretations
The Baby of Mâcon depicts the 1659 staging of a medieval morality playMorality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
(invented by the filmmaker). Between the play's acts, the film also explores the "audience" - in a provincial Italian theatre at the height of the Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
- and the "actors" backstage. Throughout, the viewer is reminded of the play's audience, and, at its conclusion, the on-stage actors bow to their (theatre) audience, who in turn bow to the modern (cinema) audience. However, all through this final denouement the corpses of the Bishop's Son and the Daughter remain motionless where they are displayed.
A member of the theatre audience, Prince Cosimo Medici, exists outside and inside the play, serving to blur the line between the narrative folds. The ten-minute rape sequence deliberately weaves through each cinematic narrative layer, further blurring the lines. In every narrative layer, exploitation and theatre recur, i.e. theatre's supporting power: in the play, ecclesiastical power; in the film, court power - each propels the narrative. The film can be read as an examination of contemporary narrative and its (violent?) Christian origins.
Reception
This is considered by many to be the most controversial film in Peter Greenaway's filmography. Critics, in general, disliked the film, and it never received a proper distribution in North America, playing occasionally in cities like New York and Los Angeles. Some have called it Greenaway's most disturbing work. The film was screened out of competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival1993 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :* Louis Malle * Claudia Cardinale * Inna Churikova * Judy Davis * Abbas Kiarostami * Emir Kusturica * William Lubtchansky * Tom Luddy * Gary Oldman * Augusto M...
.